Best marathon: 2:23:57 (2007, St. George). Won the Top of Utah Marathon twice (2003,2004). Won the USATF LDR circuit in Utah in 2006.

Draper Days 5 K 15:37 (2004)

Did not know this until June 2012, but it turned out that I've been running with spina bifida occulta in L-4 vertebra my entire life, which explains the odd looking form, struggles with the top end speed, and the poor running economy (cannot break 16:00 in 5 K without pushing the VO2 max past 75).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for the US Olympic Trials. With the standard of 2:19 on courses with the elevation drop not exceeding 450 feet this is impossible unless I find an uncanny way to compensate for the L-4 defect with my muscles. But I believe in miracles.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:08 in the marathon. Become a world-class marathoner. This is impossible unless I find a way to fill the hole in L-4 and make it act healthy either by growing the bone or by inserting something artificial that is as good as the bone without breaking anything important around it. Science does not know how to do that yet, so it will take a miracle. But I believe in miracles.

Personal:

I was born in 1973. Grew up in Moscow, Russia. Started running in 1984 and so far have never missed more than 3 consecutive days. Joined the LDS Church in 1992, and came to Provo, Utah in 1993 to attend BYU. Served an LDS mission from 1994-96 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Got married soon after I got back. My wife Sarah and I are parents of nine children: Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, Stephen, Matthew, Mary, and Bella. We home school our children.

I am a software engineer/computer programmer/hacker whatever you want to call it, and I am currently working for RedX. Aside from the Fast Running Blog, I have another project to create a device that is a good friend for a fast runner. I called it Fast Running Friend.

Favorite Quote:

...if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

Then the tempo "leg". 1.5 up, 2.5 down, 2.5 up, 1.5 down. Total time 46:59, up average 6:12 (headwind), down average 5:32 (tailwind), last mile 5:13.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Two neighbor girls joined us - Angie and Cheyenne. Cheyenne did really well - ran a mile in 9:51. I think she has some talent. Afterwards I took Benjamin for his fast half-mile, but this time, I brought the double stroller with only Joseph in so we could run 0.5 out, and then I could run with both of them in the stroller. Thus it was a mile relay, sort of. Benjamin did his leg in 3:40, I did mine in 3:09, which was a tempo for me with the weight. Our "team" ran the mile in 6:49.

Warmed up a couple of miles with George, and then ran a tempo of about 6.5 on a new course on the trail. Total time 38:25. Found potential training partners on the cooldown - Jon and Steve. Ran 0.5 in 2:52 with Steve to test his GPS.

Then 4x100 with ankle weights by my house. 19.8 - 19.7 - 18.8 - 18.8.

Ran with Benjamin, Jennifer, Julia, and Joseph in the stroller. Some jogging during the day and at night. Total of 16.25.

In the morning, warmed up two miles, then an 8 mile tempo mile out and mile back in 47:09. Not my favorite workout, but life is tough - I've thought about altertnatives, and still thinking. It is either tough hills (overtraining), driving somewhere (not enough time on Wednesday morning), or out and back (the least of the three evils). Actually might not be so bad - teaches me to deal with the change of pace.

Did some jogging during the day and ran with the kids. Total of 14 miles.

Felt like I had some weird kind of a cold, but flushed it out towards the end of the day with EmergenC.

Ran with Eric and Steve Hillam today. Warm-up, then the same 6.5 tempo run on the trails as Tuesday. Amazingly, almost the same time - 38:23. I must admit I was tracking my splits and would pick it up if I was behind, and back off if I was ahead. Steve helped with the pace as much as he could doing some sections. I hope he will be able to do the whole thing once a week in a couple of months. I also hope he sticks around for a couple of months.

Afterwards, did some jogging, ran with the kids, and then did sprints with ankle weigths. Benjamin joined me. I did 200 in 38.8, then 2x100 18.0 - 17.9. Benjamin set a huge record in a 200 trying to keep up with me - 40.7. Go Benjamin! Afterwards, his 100s were not too bad - 20.4 - 21.3.

Just to think of a 7 year old running a 200 in 40.7! I remember running a 300 after some training at the age of 11 in 58, and I was one of the fastest in the training group. This was not your regular peer group slice - this was the kids who either really wanted to run, or were talented enough to have been selected. My intuition is that Benjamin will run a 400 in 50 or faster when he grows up, which, if the case, would be very helpful.

Almost the exact repetition of yesterday. Same training partners, same course, same workout. Steve helped me with the pace on the tempo run, which I did in 38:22. I cheated at the end and ran the last 200 in 40 to not be slower than yesterday. The good news is that I felt like cheating this way, and could cheat without shifting into a kick gear.

4x100 with ankle weights 19.7 - 19.6 - 18.8 - 18.1. Ran with the kids. Jogged a bit more at night. Total of 14 miles.

Feeling tired, the daily tempos are stressing something either neurologically or hormonally. Muscles feel fresh, and if I warm up, I feel good. But without warming up sleep is all I want to do. To make things worse, I had to catch up on some projects in my business, and could not afford a nap. Fortunately, a telemarketer called, I told him in a hurry I was not interested, and hung up. He called again, and that really got me going. So I was able to stay awake to do the work. Blessings in disguise...

Ran on the Provo River Trail by Geneva Road with John Bishoff and Steve Hillam. Did a warm-up, then 4x100 with ankle weights - 18.8 - 19.0 - 18.6 - 16.8. I asked them to run fast enough to drop me on the last one, they did, and I ended up setting an ankle-weights record for a 100.

Then a 10 mile tempo run. John and Steve were helping as much as they could. John made it through the mile in 5:46, which is his official mile record for now. I was doing fine at first - 14:26 at 2.5, the next 2.5 in 14:37. Then around 7 miles I noticed that all of a sudden the same effort is giving me about 5:55-6:00 pace. Not good - dehydration, out of glycogen, lack of sleep, nervous system overload, lack of speedwork, adrenal glands quitting, overtraining, a combination of all of the above or something else? Decided to try to pick up the pace anyway - after quite a bit of grumbling managed a 1:23 quarter, then after a 200 in 43 which felt hard decided perhaps pushing the pace was not wise. Backed off, and coasted. Did not even bother to look at the watch for a while, then when I did, I realized I was going 6:12 pace. I finally talked myself into speeding up to 6:00, and even managed the last quarter in 1:23. So perhaps I possibly overreacted to the slow-down. 29:34 for the last 5 miles, and 58:37 for the whole run.

Took the kids with me to get the oil change/safety/emissions/registiration at Jiffy Lube. While we were there waiting, we ran to the nearby track at Provo High. Benjamin set a 400 meter record of 1:36.2. We then did some more running.

In the evening added another 2 "always on the run" miles. Total of 16 for the day, and 90 for the week.

Also decided to start working out with weights. I have a hunch that testosterone somehow contributes to a good running economy. A masculine muscle works like hard rubber on ground contact, while a feminine is more like cotton. My intuition tells me I could use more hard rubber and less cotton in my muscles. Testosterone, I suppose, is the hormone would make the muscle more like hard rubber. Maximum effort in lifting weights should stimulate its production. So today I did 3 sets of 3 with 85 pounds, and that was about maximum effort.

Sandy Classic did not give Glen any comps, but fortunately Murray Fun Days 5 K did. That means I am going to be having fun in Murray on the 4th of July. It would be interesting to see how I do in a 5 K after three 90+ mile weeks with all the tempo running, and no speedwork.